Archaeology and History, BA

Through a melding of the methods and perspectives of both history and anthropology, Historical Archaeology studies the rise of modern society. Its primary focus has been the growth of Euro-American society since the Age of Exploration. This involves a wide range of topics and research questions. In addition to the focus on Euro-American cultural development, African, Latin American, and Native American cultural growth is examined. Since the disciplinary concerns of both history and anthropology cover issues beyond those of interest to historical archaeology, this joint major has been created to combine courses from both disciplines that will serve to form a unified program of study in historical archaeology. At the same time the program is designed to retain the broad-based education of a liberal arts BA by focusing the perspectives of both history and archaeology on the rise of modern society.